ACPS Superintendent Hutchings co-writing a book, will teach at Georgetown University

Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. is co-authoring a book on educational leadership and will start teaching as an adjunct professor next fall and spring at Georgetown University, according to a memo that was sent to the School Board last week.

Last fall, the Board approved Hutchings’ request to write the book on public school equity with Georgetown University professor Douglas Reed. The Board also approved Hutchings’ request to teach at Howard University and the University of Southern California, although those plans have changed. Hutchings will instead teach at Georgetown University this fall and next spring, and the change is what prompted the Board to reconsider (and unanimously approve) his updated request.

ACPS and Hutchings did not answer numerous questions about the book or the teaching position, including what the book is titled, what ACPS information Hutchings will disclose in it, if he will be paid in his new position at Georgetown and how often he will teach there.

Hutchings told the Board that the book will be a guide, of sorts, and will include information on the ACPS strategic planning process and measures the school system took to rename Alexandria City High School.

“I just want people to know that the book is an educational resource,” Hutchings told the Board. “It is targeted towards educational leaders, superintendents, principals, colleges, universities. It’s not my memoir.”

Hutchings will also be a member of an organization called the Class Strategic Advisory Board and also The Source for Learning Board, both of which meet quarterly.

Hutchings told the Washington Post that leading ACPS in the summer of 2020 was like running a country, and has said at Board meetings that he has experienced enough during his tenure to write a book.